> Midnight Hour [Fall of Equestria ANTIDOTE story]
>  by Stardust Live
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Nothing More Than A Myth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm telling you, they control everything"
"Will you stop with that"
"How else do you explain it?? All these mares together in one place, the magic of friendship, Twilight becoming a Princess ... It's all planned! It's all a secret organisation!"
"Orrrr it's Princess Celestia knowing lots of things and having lots of advisors. Besides, we had Starswirl and the Pillars, it's not a new thing"
"I think it's moonbats"
"Shut up, Bookmark. I've seen the hints they leave, their signature"
"What kind of secret organisation would leave clues? That makes no sense!"
"So w e know they are around and they watch us!!"
"Moonbats ..."
"Shut up, Bookmark"
"That's dumb, you're dumb, I'm going back to play Oubliettes and Ogres with Lucky Dice"
"You said he was busy!"
"He just doesn't want you playing; you keep saying the game is rigged!"
"IT IS!"
"Can I be a moonbat?"
"SHUT UP BOOKMARK!"





Everyone has heard some version of the same story; a secret organisation of some sort wishes to exert power over the Powers-That-Be, and rule in the shadows, or cause some sort of discourse in order to ensure no one undesirable group has complete control. More often than not, such talk is nothing more than paranoid fantastic thinking, or else takes a very small, very niche group and exaggerates their wants, power and influence. 
It shouldn't exist in Equestria; after all, the power structure is very clear. Two Princess, one who rules the sun and one who rules the moon. They look after Equestria together, barring a small incident when one banished the other for turning a little evil. Two more Princesses ascended, one for the frozen Crystal Empire, and the other for the concept of Friendship. What use is a secret group in this setting?

Except, for once, there was some truth in it. But the truth was more sad than it was shocking.

The IlLUNAnati were a small, niche group that was founded on the day the Royal Sisters took their place as rulers over the three tribes of Equestria. Always made up of three members, so votes would not be hung, they always comprised of one Earth pony, one Pegasus pony, and one Unicorn pony. Gender varied; sometimes two mares one stallion, sometimes two stallions, one mare. Never three stallions, never three mares. Their duty, as they saw it, was to watch over the lunar royal and protect her. As she grew into her position, their group became complacent, neglecting their basic duties as they foresaw themselves becoming obsolete.
The rise of Nightmare Moon shattered them. Realising they had utterly failed their Princess, they disbanded, and vanished into deeper obscurity.

One year before the return of Nightmare Moon, three ponies independently rediscovered the tale of Princess Luna. Whisper Blue, the Earth pony Royal Archivist. Crystal Clear, the Unicorn junior assistant at the Equestria National Observatory. Silver Song, the Pegasus opera understudy. Each had their own tale of how they found the history of the lost Royal Sister. Each came together to meet, to find the ILUNAnati's ruined cause and hidden influence, and they pledged to retake the sacred duty to watch over the younger Princess.

Some say they had a hoof in the events that turned Nightmare Moon back into Princess Luna.

That is up for the world, should they know, to decide. 

With Equestria calm and the Princesses ruling side-by-side again, things had fallen into a state of tranquil patience, ready and waiting to step in should Luna become threatened. 
And while Equestria's Princess Luna was safe, the same couldn't be said for another, in a world far different to the one governed by the magic of friendship ...





"I've heard the cry again ..."

Crystal Clear looked up from her book, peering over her glasses at Whisper Blue. The Earth mare was sitting by the large pool in the middle of the ILUNAnati's secret layer in the forgotten and secret bowls of Canterlot Castle. The pool was filled with moonwater, a traditional place of meditation and future seeing, and sometimes healing for members of the organisation. Even with her hood up and most of her face obscured by shadow, Crystal Clear could see the concern on Whisper Blue's face.
"What kind of cries?"

"Fear. Pain. Despair" Whisper Blue shivered, "It must be from Our Princess. There's no other voice that would be so clear"

"I checked; Princess Luna is safe" Silver Song confirmed, coming down the stairs from one of the many secret entrances to the lair, "She is having some midnight tea and a snack before going dreamwalking; the guards are all alert, Princess Celestia is deep in sleep. I hear nothing from Ponyville or the Crystal Empire. If it's from Princess Luna, it's not from-"

"This place" Whisper Blue looked up, her ears forward as she tried to hear the sound better, "It cannot be from this place. It must be from another world"

"Another ... world?" Crystal Clear closed her book softly, "Which world? Is it in the Canterlot High world? The last crisis was solved by Sunset Shimmer, the Princess should be safe there too"

Whisper Blue shook her head, "I hear distress from mirrors if it is from that place. This ... This cry is darker, more horrible ..."

"... " Without a word, Silver Song and Crystal Clear joined Whisper Blue at the moonwaters, all three looking at the surface of the dark, gently rippling pool. A silvery film covered the surface, a testament of the subtle, velvety magic that infused it, and allowed them to see past this world and into others with the right concentration. Each pony dipped their left hoof into the water, adding the magic of their tribe, willing the sound to be clearer, more precise.

All three winced as the cry echoed around their minds.

 "NO! No, no please! I WON'T SUBMIT! I AM THE PRINCESS OF EQUESTRIA! I WILL NEVER BOW TO YOU!"

"Princess ..." Crystal Clear whispered, just as another, rougher voice spoke.

"You will bow down as your sister did, I will make you red whatever it takes"
"I REFUSE! YOU CANNOT DO THIS!"
"Look at what I did to your wings, your horn. You want this, it is your place. Your land, your throne, your cunt, they're all mine"

Silver Song almost recoiled from the language, his mouth agape in horror.

The following sounds they heard were almost too terrible to describe. Cries, screams, the sound of flesh being unwillingly taken. Tears poured down the face of all three ILUNAnati members, as Whisper Blue wrenched her hoof violently out of the water, shaking, breaking their connection.

"Princess ... " Crystal clear started to sob, covering her eyes with her hoof. 

"I didn't hear that, I did not just hear that" Silver Song shook his head, trying to forget the awful sounds, knowing what he had just heard but trying his hardest to stop it becoming a memory, to stop it becoming ingrained in his mind.

"We must go to this place" Whisper Blue stated, her teeth gritted, "We must rescue Our Princess from this terrible fate"

"We must"

"We must"

Drying their eyes, they stood before the moonwaters, taking a deep breath. 

As a trio, they slipped into the waters, their shoulders pressed side-by-side. Crystal Clear's horn, Silver Song's wings, Whisper Blue's hooves, all glowed with their tribal magic, as they sank into the shallow waters, suddenly deep and endless, and decended down to find the world that held their tortured Princess ...
> Chapter 2: Arriving in the Nightmare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Travelling between worlds is something that was never guaranteed as to how one would arrive. The very least, one hoped to arrive the right way up, and not on top of something dangerous or on top of someone dangerous. 

The three ponies had, at least, landed the right way up and down a quiet alley to avoid suspicion as to their sudden appearance. Dizzy, disorientated, and temporarily blind, they paused for a few minutes whilst huddled together underneath their cloaks, silently collecting their thoughts, regaining their senses and covertly checking for danger.

"Is everyone alright" Whisper Blue said under her breath.

"Yes" Crystal Clear confirmed.

"Yes. Though, my hooves are not ..." Silver Song trailed off, looking at his own forelimbs. Instead of hooves, as he expected, he looked at a pair of five-fingered hands. Still covered in grey fur, he realised that he was not quite a human, but not a pony either. He still had his wings, he could see Crystal Clear still had her ivory-coloured horn, and his hind hooves felt the same, though the same couldn't be said of his legs.

The three ponies looked at each other carefully. Their faces were the same, but their bodies were long, their limbs also stretched out, their tails and manes intact.
A hybrid, almost, between human forms and pony ones. It was something of a relief to see that they had been adapted to this place in more ways than one; they still wore their cloaks, imbued with the old lunar magic that made them powerful assets as well as useful disguises. But they also wore clothing, each dressed in something appropriate to their jobs; Whisper Blue wore a dark navy librarian's uniform, a suit jacket and pants with a navy tunic underneath. She noted the badge of the Royal Canterlot Library on her left breast, and removed it quickly. Crystal Clear wore a white lab coat under her cloak, a knee-length cream skirt and cream blouse, a lanyard around her neck that stated she was a Junior Assistant at the Equestrian National Observatory. She too quickly removed her identifying tag, lest someone know who she was.
Silver Song felt underdressed, merely wearing dark gray slacks and a dark grey turtleneck sweater, no such identifying badges marked who he was. That, at least, he didn't have to worry about. None of them wore shoes, so that was something familiar at least, and walking on their hooves was less troublesome than human feet.

"Where are we" Silver Song broached the obvious topic, looking around the alley and the architecture he could see at either end of the run. 

"Looks like Canterlot, at least, mostly like Canterlot" Crystal Clear noted, recognising the white, gold and purple colour scheme and the tall spires. Everything was a little off, but she put it down to the differently proportioned citizens that the designers would have had to accommodate.

"Daytime" Whisper Blue sounded irritated. Their cloaks worked best at night, where they could blend seamlessly into the shadows and become pretty much invisible for extended periods of time. During the day, however, they could only manage short bursts, depending on how long their cloaks had been bathed in the light of the full moon.
"We must be careful. We don't know if this land is hostile"

"Something must be wrong, if we heard the Princess calling" Crystal Clear pointed out, nervously looking between the two entrances of the alleyway, "If it is a danger in Canterlot, then it can't be obvious"

"Oh, I think it might be obvious" Silver Song hissed in horror, staring at the right end of the alley. The two mares looked in the same direction, watching to see what it was that was setting their ILUNAnati brother on edge.

None of the three could believe what they had seen. Almost like a passing glimpse of a Shadow Pony, they witnessed a unicorn stallion pass by the alley. That, in itself, wasn't unusual.
What was unusual was the nude unicorn mare he was leading. Walking on all fours, a red collar around her neck like a dog, she was being lead by a lead to follow her master, which she seemed to do with a hint of glee on her face as she kept her gaze down. Her mouth was encased in a muzzle, lined with red velvet to offer some sort of comfort to the degrading facial-ware, and with a bit firmly wedged in her teeth. While she was nude, she did not seem ashamed or discomforted; indeed, she seemed to proudly show off the welts and bruises on her backside and knees, her marehood leaking clear fluid in her arousal.

None of the three could miss the fact that her horn was cut, almost to her skull, and so clearly that it had to have been deliberate, whereas the unicorn stallion leading her had his fully intact.

"..." Almost as one, the three looked at each other, before slinking towards the edge of the alley, staying behind a tall garbage bin as they peered out into the street, making sure to keep their cloaks as down as possible to obscure their faces and keep them in the shadows.

While all three knew Canterlot in their world fairly well, it was something altogether different in this place. The buildings, the shops, most of that was the same. And it was true that most of the denizens were still unicorns. However, the stallions were clothed, and the mares were ... not. Some walked standing, but most were forced to crawl. Some wore black, some wore red, and Silver Song spotted a lone pegasus mare being lead about. On her back were two odd pieces of decoration, almost shaped like butterfly wings. He had to guess that her wings were inside, but those sleeves were far too small if that were the case. Her feathers and the bones would be horribly squashed. Unless ...

"AUCTION IN TWO MINUTES! AUCTION IN TWO MINUTES!" A bellow rang around the streets, causing most stallions to turn their heads to the source of the sound. A small stage set in the closest square, only just within sight of the ILUNAnati, hosted what looked like a tall stallion dressed as an auctioneer. Whisper Blue almost couldn't believe it when she realised the bespeckled stallion was none other than Golden Gavel, the auctioneer who hosted many a charity auction for good causes around Equestria. Now, it seemed he was auctioning off a mare to be sold to the highest bidder.

The mare in question was lashed to a pole, her mouth clamped shut by a black belt, tears streaming down her face. Light lilac in colour, she was too far away to allow the three to see what her cutie mark was; they could tell, however, that it had been heavily obscured with black ink in dismissive, scribble-like strokes. Her horn, as with so many mares here, had been amputated. Two signs next to her seemed to state her name and details, and another stated auction rules.

"This is a nightmare ..." Crystal Clear's voice was a horrified whisper, as a crowd of stallions gathered before the stage. Some already had mares following them, which they seemed to enjoy showing off, while others had none but carried leads in eager anticipation for a winning bid. 

It was almost as though they were auctioning off a rare book or esquisite vase. The mare was allowed no say, her ears back and her eyes screwed shut as the bids started at 300 bits. It finally ended at 12,00 bits, and she was soon untied from her pole and passed to her new 'master'. Roughly yanked along on the leash, she fell on her face before being dragged away, and another mare was brought out to the stage for the next assessment and auction. The previous mare's sign was taken down and casually tossed aside, as casually as the mare herself was.

"We must get to the Castle" Whisper Blue said firmly, "We are here to stop this madness. First, we take control of our enclave, if it exists in the Castle, then we rescue Our Princess"

"And then?" Silver Song had to do everything in his power to avoid speeding over and rescuing the poor, sobbing auctioned mare as she wiped blood from her nose from falling onto the ground.

"Then we rescue Equestria ..."
> Chapter 3: Terrible Changes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Castle was built after the ascension of the Royal Sisters to the throne of Equestria; initially simply a summer palace, it none-the-less had a few secretive hooves aiding it's construction, building into it the future enclave of the IlLUNAnati. Their home at the Castle of the Two Sisters was cramped, having to be crammed into a corner as the original was built by the Sisters, Starswirl and Melvin the Manticore. Without ponies to guide the bricks, as it were, the IlLUNAnati were forced to adapt their plans to the castle, rather than the other way around. With Canterlot, they took no chances, and made absolutely sure there would be access for them and future members down the line.

While they were wise in this regard, they lacked the foresight to see Princess Luna's fall, and their enclave fell into disuse as the group disbanded out of shame and regret. Almost one thousand moons later, three new ponies rediscovered the secret organisation, found the enclave, and donned the cloaks of the ILUNAnati to aid the return of the Princess of the Night ...

The ILUNAnati of another world didn't know if this world had a version of themselves, but they had to guess that either it does, or did. If it did, this was a failure of their cause in the most grotesque way, even worse than the shame of the fall to Nightmare Moon. But if they did not exist at all, that would cause a problem as to how to rescue the Princess. 
It was all very complicated and delicate.

"We must gain access to the Castle" Whisper Blue looked over her shoulder at the direction in which the castle lay, "We must understand who is on the throne here, if the castle has an enclave, and ... where Our Princess is"

"How would we get in?" Crystal Clear bit her lower lip, "I mean, we're fully dressed mares and no other mare seems dressed. And I refuse to be in that ghastly, beastly collar or to walk around like that!"

"I'll go" Silver Song said firmly, already moving to remove his cloak, "I'm a stallion, I'll attract the least attention, and I can keep my clothes. I'll find out if the Castle can be accessed by regular ponies, and ... if there is a way to find out who rules"

"This will be exceptionally dangerous" Whisper Blue's icy eyes bore into him, "We could fall here, and nopony would know. If you suspect they know you are not of this place, you will need to fly as hard and as fast as your wings can carry you"

Silver Song nodded. He knew the danger of what looking after a Princess from a silent distance would entail, and their cause was so quiet that not even the Princess herself was allowed to know. Blowing his cover could mean immediate death for them all ...
But they had pledged to protect Princess Luna, no matter what. And that meant doing whatever it took to save her in any other worlds. 

"Good luck ..." Whisper Blue took hold of the cloak and secreted it in the dark depths of her own, Crystal Clear nodding her own good luck as they watched the pegasus stallion emerge from the shadows of the alley and into the bright light of this dark and unfamiliar Canterlot ...





Stepping into the streets of Canterlot shouldn't have caused Silver Song so much anxiety ... though, in a way, he was reminded of the first time he came to the capital in his world. Here to see the sights on a school trip from his home in the clouds, he was breathtaken from the moment they entered the Opera House, the moment he saw the vast and empty stage and the endless rows of red velvet seats waiting to be filled with a waiting audience. Hearing a performance of a Canterlot Academy Amateur Dramatics Society performance of The Threebit Opera changed everything for him ... He set his sights on becoming an opera singer himself, taking trips and practising in the Opera House to hopefully get his chance to take centre stage.

Performer's nerves, however, were tricky. They could either make someone so impossible to panic that they transcend into a state of total calm, or make even the slightest noise absolutely rattle them. For a stallion that aspired to be the centre of an adoring crowd, Silver Song would have paid rather more than three bits to make sure absolutely no-one noticed him.

While perhaps a touch more conservatively dressed than most stallions he encountered, he didn't seem to gain much attention, apart from maybe ponies noticing that he wasn't leading a mare. At least he wasn't the only one, though some stallions still carried a leash in the hopes of buying one. 
Window shopping was perhaps one of the more subtle ways of gathering information. Silver Song was somewhat surprised to see that a lot of shops remained open, although their shelves were somewhat lacking compared to the choices in his world. A bookstore, a coffee shop, a restaurant ... it all seemed so normal, until he took a closer look. The bookstore had many raunchy titles on display, with the serving mares inside nude, copies of a magazine called Radiently Red taking pride of place in the window.

Silver Song couldn't believe the model on the front. Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, sitting with her back to the camera and looking over her shoulder coyly. Those red wing covers coated her wings, the ones he had seen before on a pegasus mare, and there was a matching collar around the neck. The headlines made his stomach turn ... 'Library Slut', to describe Twilight Sparkle? Asking about the health of 'my mare's coat', as if she were a dog? Warnings against spoiling a mare? It was all so ... 

And that's when he noticed that the flag hanging above the bookshop, on a frame that normally supported hanging baskets of flowers, was not the same flag as the one used at home. Instead of the flag of the Royal Pony Sisters, one of Princess Celestia and Luna in opposite curves around a  sun and moon - with the position of the sisters and the planets changing depending if it was day or night - this instead showed a combination of a sun and moon to represent the Princess' cutie marks ... only with a chain wrapped around it multiple times. Framing it was a pair of horns, Silver Song wanted to say that they were deer horns, but they were thicker, more curved and more shovel-like.

Whoever the horns belong to, that is the cause of this ...

He could have done with a coffee, but two things put him off going anywhere near the coffee shop; the first was the mare inside was, of course, nude, but the menu also was something he wish he hadn't read. While everything was perfectly normal in the first two categories - drinks and snacks - it was the last column that ruined his appetite. 'Mare' delicacies were, apparently, along the lines of drinks spiked with bodily fluids or aphrodisiacs, or else literally kibble designed for pets. Watching a stallion use a purple-collared mare as a footstool while she devoured her lunch out of a petbowl was rather enough for him.

The second thing was a mare that was leashed outside the building, with a sign above her that stated she was a 'Public Service Cunt', with times listed as to what service she would perform and when. Her collar was purple, her expression one of delirious confusion, her face stained by her ... 'duties'. It took everything in Silver Song's power to rip the leash from her throat and take her to Whisper Blue and Crystal Clear, but blowing his cover this early would be disastrous.

"Cum? Cum? CUM?" She barked at him as he walked past, pawing at the ground and swishing her tail to get his attention. Another stallion approached him as he passed her, and he paused just in case this one was going to question him.
"Hey, you gonna use that?" He pointed at the mare, to which Silver Song shook his head. Thinking fast, he had to come up with a reason not to in this world ... one that didn't come down to what the actual Tartarus is wrong with you?!.
"No, I don't deal with public mares" He sneered, pulling on memories of his snobbish first singing teacher to help with the Canterlot act, "Filthy, used up, what's the point in them? When I get a mare, I want her pure, clean, no-one touching her and she will service me and only me"
"Suit yourself" The stallion laughed, unzipping his pants, "More for me"

Silver Song turned away, trying his best not to hear what was going on behind him. This is madness, this is disgusting. I need to find Princess Luna, and I need to find her NOW

The most logical place to find her would be the Castle. As he made his way to the huge palace, he saw a small crowd outside, crowing around a stallion holding a very large sign.
ROYAL TOUR: SEE THE HISTORY OF DAINN'S CONQUEST! TOURS AT 10:00, 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00

Taking a deep breath, Silver Song joined the crowd, and prepared for the horors he might see in the home of the Royal Pony Sisters ...
> Chapter 4: House of Horror
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ILUNAnati's experience with Canterlot Castle varied when they were in their civilian lives. Whisper Blue worked there, of course. Crystal Clear never visited officially, and Silver Song only saw the long hallways and beautiful stained-glass decorations as a colt whilst on a school trip, as part of a history lesson. All three came here at set meetings to discuss the organisation, but it was rather different to being escorted around by a tour guide and taking the time to admire the sculptures and learn about the past events these halls had seen.

Right away, Silver Song knew there would be a marked difference. The stained glass illustrations that he had seen as a colt had changed; instead of depicting events like the defeat of Nightmare Moon, the imprisonment of Discord, and the repel of Queen Chrysalis, these murals seemed to depict the conquest of Equestria. Tall figures he didn't recognise, dressed in fur and leather, subjugating ponies and claiming the throne. Pornographic illustrations of the enslavement of mares. Informative depictions of the three collar colours that he had seen already; a red collar around a mare that was sitting submissively on a red cushion, her hands folded on her lap and her head down with a smile on her face, but rays around her to show her as the idealised figure. A purple-collared mare, her expression one of joy, but the colours around her clashing and odd to show her delirium. And at the bottom, cast down in dark colours with tears on her face and her ears down in defeat, a black-collared mare. The willing, the broken, the defiant. 

The only image of the Princesses that he could see was one that depicted a very large figure, whatever cervine creatures that ruled this place, standing tall and proud with the flag behind his head, a crown held aloft between his horns, and a depiction of a defeated Celestia and Luna at his feet. Feathers fluttering off their wings, their horns broken, silver collars and chains around their necks, it depicted them as defeated, but did not show what had happened afterwards.
Perhaps that was a job best suited for the tour guide, who seemed to relish retelling the victory of the current rular.

"King Dainn, the proud and wise rular from across the frozen seas of Northern Equestria, realised something about his kind; they were heading towards a catastrophe that had been foretold many times by prophets of old. Seeing no way to stop the impending collapse, he took a few brave warriors with him towards Equestria, landing in Lindisbarne on the Eastern shores of the Crystal Empire ..."

So, Princess Cadence must either be captured, dead, or has not ascended

"First taking an audience with Princess Cadence and Prince Consort Shining Armour, they were welcomed and allowed to stay. However, King Dainn saw that Equestria was under weak rule, despite the great treasures that the land possessed. Seeing that his kind would make far better rulers, the Caribou took it upon themselves to enforce their vision of a better world. The Crystal Heart was taken, forged with rune magic, and now allows everyone to partake in the joys of ownership, submission and pleasure"

The Crystal Heart, the sacred relic within the Crystal Empire that kept it safe from the harsh winters that blighted the region, also showered the world with love and harmony. Any corruption of it ... Silver Song was starting to see how the world could have been so thoroughly tainted.

"After the fall of the Royal Sisters, the King as ruled with his council in fair and wise ways, giving us the system of the collar, and bringing peace to the land. Every stallion has the right of access to a mare, and mares have found pleasure in their new place as servants to the superior sex. No longer do they have to worry about jobs or careers; they just need to think about servicing their masters, and their masters take care of the rest"

Almost on cue, the Royal palace guards passed the tour group, seeming to appear the same as always. However, the mare guards were nude, collared with red collars, and trailing after the male guards with their heads bowed low. The same flag insignia that Silver Song had seen outside the bookstore was branded onto the rump of these mares, and the tour guide noticed his group staring at them.

"Guard mares ensure that mares who are here to service the staff are kept in line. Their reward is time spent with the council, if they are good ..."

"Can we see the council?" A unicorn stallion to the left of Silver Song spoke up, raising his hand. The tour guide shook his head.

"They are busy attending to important matters. We can, however, see the Throne room ..."

Silver Song was, in a way, relieved they wouldn't see these 'caribou', as he had no desire to look upon the monsters who had done this face-to-face just yet. Entering the throne room, the twin thrones of the Sisters were gone. Instead, there was a single throne, made of bones with leather stretched across it. Two thick, golden chains coiled to the left and right at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the throne, along with two pet bowls; one said 'Moon Slut' and the other 'Sun Whore'

Imaginative Silver Song thought bitterly. He had to bite down the urge to outright ask where the Princesses were kept, and instead focus on the strange rocks that littered the room to either side of the red walkway to the throne.

Since Whisper Blue heard the cries of the Princess, it could be taken as read that she was alive, at the very least. And based on what he had seen of this world, he had to imagine she was being used as any other mare in this dark, terrible world ...

"The royal whores are busy resting, ready to service their King. Only the highest sluts can serve, as we all know. Not to say he doesn't partake in sampling the fair castle maidens ..." A snicker amongst the tour group. Silver Song pretended to share their mirth, but he was more interested in the architecture, looking for signs that the ILUNAnati's secret network of tunnels and passages existed in this world too.

Nothing in the Throne Room, but rarely did they use such a direct path in their own world. He kept a sharp eye as the group moved through the lower parts of the castle, showing the guard rooms and the poor mares leashed here, ready for guards to 'relieve stress' with them. The ones more firmly chained were black collared, and he noted, were former guards themselves. No doubt ready to be conditioned into being guard mares for other captives.

As he tried to ignore the boasting of the guards, happy to show off their privileges to the awe of the group, he spotted something at the very topmost corner of the room. Hidden in the shadows, half-covered by masonry, was the shape of an eye with the crescent of the moon as the shine in the pupil. A sign. A sign his group did exist here.

I need to get back to the others. We need to return in the night, and find our enclave here ...
> Chapter 5: Home Away From Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"'Moon slut'?" Whisper Blue's lip curled as Silver Song told her everything she had seen, and Crystal Clear rubbed her forehead to get the mental image of the guards abusing their mare co-workers like that out of her mind.

"I never got to see where the Princesses were kept, but it's clear that they are being used as slaves for this 'King Dainn'" Silver Song confirmed, "We didn't see him either, apparently he was busy with a meeting with some sort of Council. None of the Princesses are ruling, none of them are supposed to have their titles, but the ponies seem to bring up the titles almost as a habit. Princess Cadence is in the Crystal Empire, Princess Twilight I don't know ... and Princess Celestia and Princess Luna ..."

"Are there" Whisper looked over her shoulder towards the Castle, her heart hardening as they knew exactly what they must do. Crystal Clear, however, asked the important question.

"Who are the Caribou? I've heard of deer like King Aspen, I've heard of the Reindeer who can wield magic, but Caribou?"

"They are from the absolute North, a land East of the Crystal Empire like the tour guide said" Whisper Blue explained, pulling on the knowledge she had gathered from the IlLUNAnati's library and some scant references in obscure books from the Royal Archives, "The last time they contacted ponies was before the Princesses, before even the uniting of the three tribes ... I did not think they would wish to visit Equestria, let alone take it over. As far as I know, Princess Celestia had sent a party to try and locate their land after seeing them mentioned in an old tome, but found nothing, and had assumed they simply didn't exist or were so isolated they couldn't be contacted. Little wonder this invasion came as a shock"

"Are they like Reindeer?"

"They ARE Reindeer, technically. From what I have read, the Caribou are larger than the Reindeer that we know, they are stronger, longer fur for the harsher land they come from. They don't use their horns for magic, they do have it, but how they use it I don't know"

"There were stones in the Throne Room" Silver Song mused, "Dark coloured rocks with glowing carvings on them. I can't tell what magic they had, if any, but there was something about them I didn't like"

"A magic that we might not know about, then" Crystal Clear worried the inside of her lip with her teeth, "That ...we'll have to deal with when we come to it. You said that you saw a sign that there was a version of us here?"

"Yes, the masonry in the Guard's Room had a sign. But the entranceways didn't seem to have been moved or disturbed. If we have the same enclave here, then it's still sealed. There might not be a hidden society here"

"We'll just have to find out, won't we ... "





There were a few ways to get into the enclave in their world, it all depended on the best way to slip by the guards unnoticed, or on how they would be able to get in. Silver Song was able to fly to high doorways, Crystal Clear could use her magic to unseal barriers,  and Whisper Blue ... just had to be not seen, really.

Considering the state of the Castle, they all decided that simply slipping in and using a main entrance was not feasible. It would call for entering from the outside, taking a risk that the guards patrolling the outer walls wouldn't see them, but it was a smaller risk than trying to enter.
Their cloaks had been charged in moonlight before leaving their world, but they noted that it felt like it would not last as long here, the moon feeling slightly different, possibly due to the different way that Princess Luna turned back from Nightmare Moon. Whatever the reason, they had a small amount of time to use it to get into the enclave, and they wanted to use the rest of their time using to rescue the Princess.

"I'm scared" Crystal Clear admitted, clinging onto Whisper Blue as the two stood at the top of the riverway snaking through Canterlot's mountains. The river spilled out over the edge of a cliff at the mouth of a cave, joining the much larger streams that tumbled from the higher altitudes above them. They chose this river over the larger ones, as the larger ones were rougher and harder, pushing the risk of drowning even further.

"I know" Whisper Blue said, more or less saying that she also felt fear without saying it out loud, "We will be okay. We just need to be unseen, then we will reach the fall, and our Brother will catch us and take us inside"

Almost on cue, Silver Song flew past them, his passage invisible to most ponies but themselves, as they could see someone cloaked in the IlLUNAnati's garb as clearly as they could see the waxing moon in the sky. It was a sign that Silver Song had gone ahead and made sure there was an entrance to the enclave in the same place as it was in their world, and would be ready to catch them. 

"This is it" Whisper Blue nodded, waiting until Silver Song disappeared again towards a waterfall that ran down the side of the castle, fed from the rivers of Canterlot Mountain to tumble into the plains below. These waterfalls fed the plumbing of the city as a whole, as well as the Castle, and there many passages that simply weren't guarded or watched. One place was the aforementioned waterfall that had an entrance behind it, hidden by the rushing waters and would never be found normally. It also made it pretty much inaccessible.

Unless you had a plan.

Crystal Clear cast a small bubble around the mouth and nose of herself and Whisper Blue. Just enough air inside to let them breathe for a few short minutes underwater, but no more. They couldn't risk having someone detect in-use magic from Crystal Clear's horn whilst they were swimming. Carefully, they leapt down the fall, keeping their hands clasped firmly together to make sure one did not drift away from the other.

The shock of the cold water had to be overridden to stop them involuntarily gasping all the air in their bubbles already. Once in the water, they allowed the currents to sweep them along, taking them to the waterfall on the other side. Squeezing Crystal Clear's hand to indicate when the drop was coming, they braced themselves as the waters picked up speed, their vision nothing but swirling white bubbles and the world suddenly dropped underneath them.

Crystal Clear's heart leapt into her throat, she almost screamed, and probably would have done if she didn't suddenly feel Silver Song's arms grab her and Whisper Blue, stopping their fall as his wings beat frantically with the effort of carrying all three of them.
He quickly brought them over to the algae-covered wall behind the waterfall, pressing his elbow onto a slab of rock as Crystal Clear and Whisper Blue did the same with their hands. Thankfully, the rock slide aside with the touch of the three ILUNAnati members, and they all tumbled inside just as the slab started to close again ...





"I can fully believe that no-one has been here in many a century ..." Whisper Blue noted as they made their way to the enclave, wrinkling her nose at the smell of dust and neglect. Crystal Clear cast a small light spell on the end of her horn until they finally reached the enclave, noting that the moonlight torches automatically lit up the moment they entered, activated by their cloaks. Cobwebs and star spiders littered everything, and it took her back to when she was first brought into the ILUNAnati by Whisper Blue herself.

"Do you think the abandonment was the same in our world?" Silver Song wrung out some water from his sodden wings, thankful that he would not need to use that entrance again for a little while.

"Very possibly" Whisper Blue made her way over to a lectern with an open book, noting that the past members had written very much the same messages as their world's past members. The fall of the Princess, lamenting how blind and useless they had been ... It was almost like reliving the past in strange bodies, and with a nightmare playing upstairs in the main castle.

"I wonder where we are. I mean, this world's version of us ... Do we simply not exist?" Crystal Clear broached the obvious question, "If we exist ..."

"I don't want to think about it!" Silver Song quickly interjected, "I don't want to know if I'm like the stallions we've seen ... Oh, stars, I don't want to know ..."

"First thing's first" Whisper Blue said, shutting the book on the lectern and sending dust into the air, "We must dry ourselves and make this place fit for our purposes, and for visitors. And then ..."

"Then we will rescue Our Princess ..."
> Chapter 6: Sweet Relief
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am the Princess of the Night! The guardian of pony dreams, the watcher of the stars, the midnight rular of Equestria! I will never bow or break to your will! EVER!

She had meant each and every single word of that. Even when she was defeated in combat, with Celestia at her side, their bodies aching and their minds battered, they refused to bow. They would not acknowledge the Caribou way of life, they would sooner die ...
It almost did feel that she had died, when they took her horn. When they stripped her wings and encased them. When they scoured her Cutie Mark with thick, noxious black tar that matted her fur and burned her skin. When they took a white-hot poker and branded her with the new Equestrian symbol, a humiliating depiction of hers and Celestia's marks lashed in chains, a firm reminder of their place in this dreadful new world.

As she lay on the floor, her wrists and ankles encased in shackles and chains bolted to special steel plates, she looked at the very fine dust dancing in the rays of moonlight streaming through the windows. She should be in the world of dreams right now, soothing infant's nightmares, walking ponies through difficult memories, enjoying the creative fun of funny dreams. Or else she would be dealing with the mountains of bureaucracy that the sisters always seemed to be just barely on top of. Perhaps taking a nighttime fly around the Kingdoms to ensure peace and no monsters were waiting to eat ponies careless enough to let their mind as well as their hooves wander ...

Freedom. It felt like so long since she had that. She placed her hand on the patch of moonlight on the floor, and immediately felt just a little bit better. Just a little. The moon was being controlled by the Caribou now, ordering the Unicorns to raise and lower it according to their times. She still had a connection to it, no-one would take that, not even her captors.

Her hair was still. The starry glimmers in it no longer shone, simply rendering it blue, the translucent edges cloudy. Her fur was dull, her skin dry and aching, her hooves flacked and cracked. Her mouth tasted foul with the punishments she was given, the pleasures she was forced to give, her teeth ached from being forced open to accept it. The base of her horn was about an inch long from her forehead; she was told this was a punishment as well. A lot of mares had their horns almost flush with their foreheads if they were Red and obedient. Those who were Black had a more visible stump. A more prominent reminder of what they had, and what they had lost. What could be taken from them. She had tried to cast magic a few times in the beginning, but had nothing but a few sparks to show for it. She gave up, eventually. It was too tiring to try, to emotionally exhausting, and she was punished every time.

The master of her destruction was sleeping in what was Celestia's bed, snoring contently. Celestia herself was curled up in a large dog bed, a smile on her face with her hands curled underneath the side of her head. Luna never would understand Celestia's turn from Black to Red. She had fought just has hard, had resisted just as much ... but not long after Cadence became Red, Celestia suddenly changed as well. Eagerly accepting the new rules, claiming that she enjoyed no longer having to deal with the crises' that struck Equestria as often as a shower of rain. How she could finally give herself over to pleasure that she simply never took part in for the sake of the world.

Luna didn't believe her one little bit. Not even after witnessing her devotion first-hand.

In a little way, she almost resented her sister's turn. If Luna was demonised for her fall to Nightmare Moon, would Celestia be cursed for taking the Red? She didn't doubt people would forgive, but wither or not she would would be another story.

Distracted by this thought, Luna hadn't heard what was going on outside the door. A puff of breath, a breeze of fine light-blue dust, and the whispered command 'somnum'. Two bodies almost hit the floor, but were caught and placed more gently, making sure the subjects were well and truly out.
Two figures climbed up to the balcony outside of Celestia's former bedroom. Carefully, they crept towards the French windows, peering in and spotting the Princesses. Celestia, happy in her place of submission and comfort, and Luna, alone on a hard floor and chained down. The chains would be a problem, but only a temporary one.

Very gently, the door cracked open, the balcony ones and the bedroom ones at precisely the same time. Luna looked over to the balcony ones, her sight closer to that, and almost said something aloud before both figures placed a finger upon where their mouths would be within their darkened hoods. Be silent, they requested.

Luna's first instinct was to disobey that, but the clasp on the front of their cloaks suddenly dissuaded her from the idea. An irregular blot-like outline held a crescent moon in beautiful pale silver in the middle, a replica of her Cutie Mark. 
Whoever these ponies were, and she assumed they were ponies, they were apparently friends.
Closing her mouth again, she nodded but her eyes were full of fear. Not helping this was the third figure who almost sneaked up behind her, startling her as the pony looked at her chains. 

A pale yellow glow shone inside the hood, casting a light on the iron chains and making Luna worry even more. Would Dainn detect the magic being used? She could only hope that whoever this pony was would finish their task quickly, before he woke up and there would be chaos.
Instead of simply breaking the chain, as Luna assumed they would, the pony seemed to turn the shackles around her wrists and ankles into rubber, making them soft and pliable. It also made them a lot quieter as she slipped them off the Princess and delicately coiled them up on the floor. Offering a pale cream hand, she got the nude, confused princess to stand on her hooves, gesturing to her to come to the balcony. Follow me

As soon as they let go of the chains, they became metal again, and a loud snort erupted from the bed. Luna's heart thundered in her chest, she moved before the cloaked figure could take in the sound, and made a dash for the balcony. Quickly, the two figures outside opened it further, spiriting the Princess out and closing it behind them. One figure quickly wrapped Luna in a soft, plush navy blue fleece blanket to give her dignity, while the others came to the edge of the balcony and prepared to descent. 
One figure suddenly opened a pair of dark grey wings on their back, gesturing to the Princess what they were going to do. We will carry you

Luna didn't know what to make of this. Was this a dream? A delirious attempt to have some hope and happiness? Even if it was, she was going to take it. She nodded, letting herself be bundled between the three as they very carefully, climbed off the balcony, sharing Luna's weight between them, and crawling down the castle walls. Stopping half-way down, they pressed against a very large clump of climbing ivy that formed a wall on the lower, darker parts of the castle, and suddenly all four ponies tumbled sideways through the curtain and into darkness ...





"Who ... Who are you"

Luna stood in a dark passageway, refusing to go any further without knowing who these ponies were. They looked at each other silently, a momentary discussion without words, before all three stood together before her.
They all fell to one knee, their heads bowed low. The pegasus amoungst them spreading his wings out beside him and bowing them down as well in a gesture of submission.
"We are the ILUNAnati" A female voice said, the middle figure, "We are a secret society sworn to protect you, the Princess of the Moon, and further your dreams and ambitions. We are not from this place; we came from another world because of your cries for help"

Luna blinked.

"What-"
"We know it will come as a shock. Normally, you would never know about us, you would be forbidden to know. We can only do our work if you never know of us, never see us. But there is no version of us active in this world ... otherwise, this nightmare would be cause for execution under our ancient laws"
"Execution?!"
"We can only ask for your forgiveness, and we want to heal you and this world. We ask for your trust, and we will protect you"
"Can you trust us?"
Luna looked at the three strange ponies who had taken her away from Dainn, and spirited her away to this hidden place in the castle she thought she had known so well, looked at how they were dressed and their ways. and had to make a choice ...
> Chapter 7: Soft Dreams
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Princess Luna made her choice.

"Very well ..." She gave her permission, essentially, to let these three ponies take care of her, or so they claimed. Satisfied, they lead her further down the tunnel and towards a door that softly slid open for them, revealing the enclave to the ILUNAnati.

The Princess wasn't sure what to expect from three ponies in cloaks who kidnapped her in a positive way, but a nice hideaway was probably not on the list. As they entered, she was greeted with a rather cosy set-up, one that reminded her of the personal reading rooms back in the Castle of the Two Sisters. Four stone walls were softened by large tapestries, depicting various moons and stars, as well as a symbol of an eye with a crescent moon as the eyeshine. The floor was padded by a lovely blue carpet, soft on her neglected hooves as the cloaked figures lead her down one of the two sweeping walkways that curved around a lowered area. She couldn't help notice the large pool in the middle of the floor, gently sparkling in the white-blue glow of orb torches along the walls. Moonlight, moonlight channelled from outside, and the pool looked so inviting ...

"We have prepared for your arrival, our Princess" The female voice spoke again, turning to face Luna, "We understand that this will be all very confusing. There is much you will want to know from us, and there is much we wish to know from you of this world. But first, we must insist that you rest. We offer to have you bathed, clothed, fed and rested at your leisure"

Luna would almost be amused at how that was phrased, making it sound as though she would refuse the offer, but she understood that they were being completely subservient to her. It was probably shocking to them to see her like this, standing nude with nothing but a fleece blanket wrapped around her, her horn removed and her wings bound. She nodded, and one of the other figures seemed to realise the breach in etiquette.

"I think the Princess should see our faces" Another female voice, possibly the one who removed Luna's shackles. The middle figure paused, then nodded.

Almost as one, they removed the hoods around their heads, showing themselves to, indeed, be three ponies. A Earth pony mare, with a short blue mane flopping over one side of her face, pale eyes half-lidded and calm. A Unicorn mare, with a long and wavy blonde mane and a pair of round spectacles perched on the end of her muzzle. She was the one with cream-coloured fur that aided with the chains. And finally, a grey Pegasus stallion, with a dark-grey mane perfectly coiffed despite his hood. They removed their cloaks, draping them over their left arm as they looked to the Princess for her approval. Luna was rather stunned to see the uniform of the Royal Archives on the blue mare, and blinked on seeing it.
"You ... work in the castle"
"I do in my world, but I can only assume I do not here" Whisper blue paused, waiting for Luna to prove or disprove that, but no verdict came either way, "My name is Whisper Blue, my Princess"
"Crystal Clear, my Princess" The Unicorn mare bowed her head a little, "Canterlot National Observatory"
"Silver Song, my Princess" The Pegasus stallion, "I ... ah, am an opera understudy. No productions in Canterlot as lead, I'm afraid"

"I'm ... afraid I don't know any of you" Luna wasn't sure if it was rude or not to say that, but it had to be the truth, "But I can't say that I'm not grateful"
"It's our honour, my Princess" Whisper Blue was quick to move on, "We will take care of you and keep you safe. No-one knows of this place, no-one will know of it. Under normal circumstances, it would never be revealed to you, but these are not normal circumstances"

"I see ..." Luna rubbed her forehead, taking all this in and the stress from running from Dainn was giving her a headache, "If you don't mind, I would like to ... clean up"

"At once, my Princess" Whisper Blue gestured to the pool, "This is our pool of moonlight, we usually use this to see into the night, into other places, in this world and others. But it is also a pool of healing, of magic ... It is fed by the waters outside, yes, but it passes under the moon at the highest point"

That sounded very good to Luna. She was eager to clean herself, but she looked warily to the three ponies before her. Crystal Clear looked between the pool and the Princess.
"Would ... would you prefer to be alone, Princess?"

Whisper Blue seemed to grasp what she was nervous about. She knew that the Princesses were attended to in their world, and she had no reason to believe it wasn't the same here. Ponies liked privacy, but it was nice to be pampered after a long, hard day. She turned to Silver Song.
"Brother Silver, could you take our cloaks and make sure that the entrance is guarded. Ensure that no-one disturbs our Princess"

Silver Song nodded, taking the cloaks of the other two and making his way back up the curved walkway to stand guard, his back to the enclave and in the shadows.

"... Sorry" Luna whispered, feeling terrible that she couldn't say she simply didn't want yet another stallion staring at her nude form. Whisper Blue shook her head.

"Apologies are not needed, my Princess" She offered a hand and lead Luna towards the pool, "Your comfort and safety is our only objective"

The fleece blanket fell softly to the floor as Whisper Blue and Crystal Clear took the Princesses hands and helped lower her into the water, Immediately, Luna sighed in bliss as the cool, lunar-infused water lapped across her neglected fur and battered skin. Old bruises twitched, then relaxed and started to heal, the brand on her rump smoothed and finally gave her relief from the scarring, stains of her humiliation washed away. She sank in to her waist, as the two mares frowned at the butterfly wing-like casings on her actual wings.

"What are these, my Princess?" Crystal Clear examined the leather casings without touching them, trying to find a seam or zip for them.

"They are ... caps, for our wings" Luna looked down at the water, remembering that she was still wearing them and her collar, "All ponies with wings have them put on, to stop them flying"

"May we remove them?"

"Please"

Instantly, the two mares almost attacked the casings, feeling along the edges for any clasps or fastenings to undo the torturous-looking things. Finally, the hidden pocket containing the zip pull was located, and almost in a synchronised fashion, they opened up the casings and threw them aside.
Crystal Clear almost wanted to vomit. Nothing remained of Luna's wings, merely the bones and skin of the basic structure. However, the feathers had still tried to come through, no matter how cramped and contorted the casing, and most were withered, stunted things that  simply fell away when exposed to the air, or else had started to turn and grow inward.

"Oh, Princess ..." She was almost in tears, touching the bones as Luna bowed her head and let the tears fall ...

Whisper Blue frowned, betraying her seething anger at those who would abuse her like this. Without warning, she took the collar that was around the Princess' neck, ignoring the barbs on the inside that bit her fingers, braced it between her hands and snapped it off, throwing it aside like the repugnant trash it was.
Luna gasped at the sudden movement, reaching up to the ring of worn, furless flesh around her throat. Freedom, finally, after so many moons ...

"No Princess of Equestria is to be chained like property" Whisper Blue's voice hissed with disgust, "No guardian of the moon and stars is to be captured like a trophy hunt. No more"

"You're free, Princess ..." Crystal Clear's voice was soft, touching the bones of Luna's wings, encouraging her to spread them out from their cramped, default position that they were forced into whilst in the sleeves, "We'll take care of you ..."

Luna said nothing, merely keeping her head down. The two mares waited to see what she would do, or say, but then decided that it was best that they get on with their duties so the poor mare didn't feel under the spotlight.





Water lily and white lotus soap massaged into the Princesses skin washed away the dirt, blood, oil and punishments from her fur and skin, the creamy bubbles floating away in the cool moonlight-infused water and disappearing away through the edge drains as water continuously flowed in from outside and away out the waterfalls that littered the cliffs of Canterlot. Black pearl and camomile shampoo was carefully teased into Luna's mane, the formally eternally moving locks had grown still and dull with the lack of care and being able to practise her magic. Crystal Clear had always wondered what the Princess' hair was like, and the answer in this state seemed to be something akin to the exceptionally soft fur found underneath the ear of a kitten, so soft it was almost unable to be detected by touch. Whisper Blue, for her part, couldn't help notice a few bumps and scars as her fingertips massaged Luna's scalp. Luna appreciated the gentle attention, closing her eyes and relaxing, letting what remained of her wings settle into the water as she sank up to her neck in it, letting the water work its magic as the mares attended to her.

Once it was time to help with her wings, their gentleness couldn't be overstated. With a touch so tentative Luna thought they had stopped several times, they carefully examined the delicate bones and skin, working out the best way to clean them without hurting her. They settled on cleaning as best they could, brushing away the stunted feathers and massaging the ingrowing ones into coming back out the right way. They knew from Silver Song that some feathers were 'blood feathers', and pulling those was not only extremely painful, but likely to cause a lot of bleeding, but they weren't sure which ones were connected to a blood supply. Instead of risking injury and damaging the follicle, they simply opted to persuading the ingrown feathers out and hoping that they would continue in the right direction.

Leaving the Princess to relax, they made her nightwear ready, and made sure that her bed was also in order. Once Luna decided that she had had enough quality bathing time, she was surprised when the two mares immediately brought over towels that bore her insignia on it, ones she recognised from her private bathroom.
"Would you care for something to eat, my Princess?" Crystal Clear dried off Luna's hair as Whisper Blue attended to Luna's wings. Given the state that they were in, and how likely it was that Luna had had her wings encased ever since her enslavement, it had been decided to not wrap them up again in bandages or some other protection, instead they would be allowed to heal and air themselves. However, the skin would need a little help, and she applied some lavender healing balm with the same delicate care and attention that she normally gave to frail documents in the Archives.

"I think I would rather rest, for now" Luna wasn't sure if that was rude, but with everything that had happened in just a few short hours, she didn't know if she could keep a meal down, "But thank you ..."

"Of course; we have your bed all ready" Crystal Clear didn't mind, instead bringing the Princess' pyjamas to her, much to her quiet delight.

"How did you manage to get these?"

"Brother Silver went to see if you were being held captive in your bedroom. Once he saw you weren't there and the room hadn't been disturbed for a long time, he took precaution to relieve the room of some of your personal items, to give you as much comfort as possible" Whisper Blue said, finishing her work on the wings, "Pyjamas are not normally held in the ILUNAnati, for obvious reasons" 

"No, I suppose not" Luna was somewhat amused, and her smile only grew when Crystal Clear handed her something else.

"... Tiberius?" Luna's eyes welled with tears on seeing it. It was a plush toy, an opossum one, one she had had since she was a very small filly. Worn, battered, it had seen better days, but it made it look even more like an opossum to her, and she could scarcely believe they had got it for her"

"Brother Silver saw it sitting on your pillow. He thought it might be important, so he brought it to you" 

"... Thank you" She hugged the plush tight. Being in her own pyjamas, with her beloved plushie, it was almost a callback to the days before this nightmare. If this was a dream, she didn't want to wake up. Just let her be at peace, clean and safe, here with these strangers ...

"If you want to rest, my Princess, we have a bed for you" Crystal Clear gestured towards a curtained off area underneath the upper platform that the two sweeping walkways encircled. Moving the curtain back, Luna could see there was a large futon bed, and so many plush cushions scattered around it that pretty much half the area was a bed or resting area. It looked so cosy and inviting, especially with the soft fleece blankets thrown around for good measure ...

"We use this area if we are unable to leave the enclave for any reason, such as an important meeting in the Castle, or some sort of issue with the Elements of Harmony" A delicate way to say 'just in case Equestria is in peril again', "There is a bathroom just there" Pointing to a door to the right, "If you need it. Sister Crystal, Brother Silver and myself will be here if you need anything at all, we will not leave nor sleep so long as you need us"

"I ... " Luna stood there, hugging Tiberius and looking completely lost, a Princess with plucked wings, an amputated horn and in her pyjamas, "I don't know how to thank you ..."

"Thanks is not needed, my Princess" Whisper Blue shook her head, her chin held up and proud, "We are the ILUNAnati; you safety and health is our priority. Rest well, my Princess ..."

The privacy curtain fell back in place, leaving Luna in a soothing darkness within this cosy sleeping area. She fell onto the futon, burrowing under blankets and surrounding herself with cushions in a little nest of comfort, and fell into a deep, peaceful, pleasant sleep ...
> Chapter 8: Gentle Morning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

How long had Luna been asleep? It felt like she had been out for years, everytime she thought she was waking up, she would sink back into the comfort of dreamless slumber, the weight of it was comfortable on her brow as her body took the time to heal itself and her mind was at peace for the first time in forever. Still, everyone had to wake up sometime, and she opened her eyes to an unfamiliar room smothered in comforting darkness. It took a moment for her to remember where she was, and she had a small smile on her face as she stretched in her prone position, her plushie opossum Tiberius still safe in the crook of her arm.

It wasn't the end of everything horrible in her life. Far from it. But it was nice to not wake up on the cold floor in Celestia's former bedroom, with a large and brutal Caribou berating and degrading her while her sister merely stood by as a passive puppy. 

She could hear the three guardians who had rescued her working in the enclave outside the little nook she was sleeping in, beyond the starry curtain that gave her privacy. Someone was turning pages in a book, scribbling things down with a pencil. Someone else was cooking, she could smell beetroot bacon sizzling in a pan and porridge bubbling away. 

Slipping into the bathroom, once again she was pleasantly surprised to see her own items. Her toothbrush and facewash were there, along with her face flannel for drying off. It was almost like they had planned for a sleepover, rather than a rescue, and the idea made her feel better in a strange way. Refreshing herself, it felt so good to have control over such basic things as her own dental care, and she came out of her little room to greet the members of the ILUNAnati.

"Good morning ..." 

"Good morning, my Princess" All of them immediately stopped what they were doing and bowed their heads towards her. Ever since her fall, Luna had ponies ignore her, harass her or even spit at her. It was somewhat nice to be bowed at again.

"Please, there's no need ... " She shook her head, but it was rather obvious that they wouldn't stop doing that. A group dedicated to her happiness and protection would always do that.

"Would you like some breakfast, my Princess" Silver Song was the chef on duty, holding up his sizzling pan of bacon, the fire being provided via Crystal Clear's magic on a little stove. Fire risks couldn't really be tolerated in a secret hideaway, and magic was the easiest solution.

"Please ..." Luna would love for some food that wasn't spiked in some way with potions to try and make her more pliant or increase her libido against her will, or simply tainted with bodily fluids from the staff making it. 

Beetroot bacon, Canterlot egg toast and hash browns were served with a bowl of warm porridge and  a tall glass of fresh blood orange juice. On instinct, Luna tried to raise her fork with her horn, before remembering that it wasn't there. Pausing, she picked the fork up with her hand as Crystal Clear ate her food in much the same way as a show of solidarity, instead of using her horn and making the Princess feel terrible. The unicorn mare had to remember that she had hands in this world.

"How do you feel this morning, my Princess?" Crystal Clear broached the topic after a few silent moments of eating. Princess Luna had to think for a moment, sitting in her pyjamas around a small table with three strange ponies from another world. 

"Better than I have in many moons ... How long was I asleep for?"

"Three days, my Princess. We were becoming worried, but you seemed so peaceful, we felt it better to leave you"

"Three days?!" She was astonished, it really did not feel that long, "I ... I don't think I've ever slept that long. I didn't even dream ..."

"You probably just needed it, my Princess" Crystal Clear didn't really want to point out that the mare probably didn't get much sleep in her situation.

"Have they noticed I'm gone?"

"Oh, yes" Silver Song's eyes glinted mischievously. He was tasked with listening in the secret passages for the chaos going on upstairs, and he took a great amount of glee that their rescue had caused so much anger in the Caribou, "The moment they realised you were gone, all sorts of arguing broke out. They have searched all of Canterlot and probably half of Equestria for you, but they can't find you"

"How is Celestia?" Luna frowned, she would share the joy once she knew her sister's fate.

"Confused" Silver Song couldn't think of a better way to describe it, "She was interrogated at first, but since she wears a red collar, they ruled her out pretty quickly. She doesn't understand why you are gone. Not even a 'I don't know who took her', so much as 'I don't know why she would run, this is our place'"

Luna looked down, toying with her hash brown. Oh Celestia ... how the mighty had fallen ...

"My Princess" Whisper Blue broached the obvious topic, putting her fork down, "How did this all happen? Why are ponies acting this way?"

The longest, lowest sigh escaped the Princess as she thought of how to really tell this group how the Kingdom had fallen. What would be the best way? The simplest way?

"The Caribou came from East of Equestria, landing first on the shores of a place called Lindisbarne in the Crystal Empire. At first, it seemed just like a visiting group of people, we were most interested in hearing about their arrival. According to what we read, they had fled their homeland to escape some terrible prophecy that their leader said was coming. That leader was Dainn, the ... beast you saw in my sister's bed" Luna gritted her teeth, but continued, "They were gruff, but didn't cause trouble. They had unique magic, and didn't quite know what the plan was next, at least, so they said. It took a while to realise that they were mostly male ... their does were hidden away. Had we seen them before, we would have known what was coming for us ..."

"Cadance and Shining Armor came to visit them. They seemed very taken with Cadance, asking about Equestria and love. Cadance thought it a little strange, but nothing out of the ordinary. Shining Armor was given a chat, and Cadance said he was very quiet when they returned home, something seemed off about him. The next thing we heard, the Crystal Heart had been stolen. The Caribou reshaped it to something base and horrible, using their magic to corrupt it in a way we have never seen before. One by one, ponies fell. Stallions became abusive, mares become submissive, the ones that would not were forced or converted. My sister and I lead our brave armies to fight against these invaders, but we were defeated. Shattered. Broken. I refused to bow. I refused to submit. Celestia ..."

"Why is she Red, my Princess? Why is she Red?"

"I don't know" Luna screwed her eyes shut, "I thought at first it was a ploy, a trick. But no-one would do as she does for a simple ploy. I thought she was going to fall to Purple, to be completely broken in mind and spirit, but she is not there. They've done something to her with their horrid magic, and we cannot fight back as strong as we want. All of Equestria's greatest defenders, our strongest ponies ... the ones that resist are beaten, tortured, broken. I've heard what has happened to some, but not others"

"How can this system work?" Whisper Blue raised an eyebrow, "If it's all about mating, then what gets done?"

"The Caribou claim to be working, but that is a lie" Luna's voice was full of spite, "All they are concerned about is making every mare submissive, they seem to not be interested in tending crops and keeping the world working. They say that slave mares are doing the work, but I doubt they can work when they are stripped and forced into degrading bindings and taken off to be touched whenever a lazy stallion or caribou wants. The griffins will not speak with us, nor the hippogiffs. The dragons stay away, the Caribou are eager for their bones to use in magic. Soon, I predict Equestria will fall to pieces. I suspect the same happened in their own lands, as little as they want to admit it ..."

The group considered this.

"Is ... there a way to defeat them that you know of, my Princess?" Crystal Clear had to ask the obvious question. Princess Luna shook her head.

"Outside of brute force? No. The only thing I can think of is somehow getting the Crystal Heart and healing it, breaking the spell over the ponies. Freeing the strongest, rising up against the Caribou"

"Then that's what we'll do" Whisper Blue said firmly, "As soon as we return your magic to you, that is what we will do"

"How will you do that?" Luna blinked, "My horn is gone. I have tried to cast magic, but everytime I try, I get nothing but sparks and punishments"

"Where is your horn, my Princess?"

"As far as I know, it is displayed in a museum in Canterlot that shows a history of the Caribou takeover. There's a room full of horns from Unicorn mares, a room of feathers from Pegasi mares, even a room of horns and feathers from stallions punished for not converting to the Caribou way of life. And ... there is a display of my and Celestia's horns, and our wingfeathers. Dainn took great pleasure in telling me how he arranged the display personally"

"Then we'll just have to get the horn back"

"But even if you could, how are you going to heal it? Broken horns are incredibly difficult to heal"

"We are the ILUNAnati. We will find a way ..."
> Chapter 9: Moonlight Healing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A museum to those who had been conquered. A hall of victory. A reminder of what could be taken, and from where all mares were destined to go. Countless horns, endless feathers, it was all so terrible, it was not a museum. It was a mortuary of power. 

And the centrepiece of this place was the horns and wings of the Princesses of Equestria. Celestia. Luna. Cadance. Twilight Sparkle. 

Something that was missing that Whisper Blue hadn't expected were the crowns of the Princesses. The ornamental horsehoes were here, depictions of their Cutie Marks, the decorative collars ... She was a little surprised to see a copy of the Flag of the Royal Sisters as well, and one of the Crystal Empire that she had to guess had been changed since the invasion. Still, she was here to do a job, and she would do it well ...

She couldn't fly. She couldn't cast magic. But she had the knowledge of Canterlot, and she had access to the Royal Archives. Knowledge was power, especially in a place like Equestria, and she was putting that to good use as she slipped past the waiting alarm systems that were sensitive to magic being cast, and looked above her at the other system that would be triggered by pony flight. Earth ponies, it seemed, were not considered a true threat. At least, not ones that were free.

Celestia and Luna's horns were side by side, held in place with glass stands that almost looked like a candle for a macabre birthday. She had to consider which ones to take; Luna's horn was a given, but Celestia? Twilight? Cadance?
For the sake of her Princess, she decided to take the horn of her beloved sister, the first one that was sure to be on Luna's list of Red ponies to be redeemed. Twilight and Cadance were both Red, enthusiastically Red, but they would take longer to come back to their senses, and she wanted to ensure that the Caribou weren't too alarmed yet. Once Princess disappearing had sent them into a rage, having someone take the horns of all four could possibly cause them to do something rash and terrible to the three they still had in their power. 

Caution and care. Essential traits in a secret society. Slipping into the darkness again, she made her way back to the Castle ...





"I can't believe the improvements overnight" Silver Song examined Luna's wings, keeping a safe distance behind her and his hands in front of him to show where they were, but not touching her. He had heard from his Sisters how poor they had been, but hadn't seem them up close until now, "How do they feel?"

"Itchy" Princess Luna admitted, stretching out the bones, "It takes everything in me to stop myself from scratching them!"

"The skin is quite dry, but that's probably after being in the air after so long in those horrid cases" He mused, "Plus all your feathers are coming out ... I always hate summer and winter moults, feathers everywhere and the itching ... oh, stars, the itching ..."

"The maids hated the moults too ... always cleaning up after the guards, as well as myself and Celestia" Luna smiled, remembering seeing so many feathers littering the Throne Room after a particularly heavy winter moult, "You would have thought a swan had exploded with the amount of feathers from Her Royal Fluffiness!"

Silver Song laughed at the Moon monarch's description as Luna flapped her wings experimentally, trying to exercise the long-neglected muscles and get a feeling of her own flight again. Soft downy feathers ruffled as well as longer, stronger ones but they would not support her weight even a little; she would need to wait some time before she gained her powers of flight back.

A sound of a secret entrance opening. Silver Song immediately moved in front of Luna, ready to protect her and Crystal Clear similarly prepared a defensive spell just in case. However, both immediately relaxed upon seeing Whisper Blue emerge from the shadows.

"Oh, thank the stars" Crystal Clear breathed out, "We were growing afraid for you, Sister Whisper. Did you get it?"

Whisper Blue pulled out Princess Luna's horn from her cloak, walking over to her and presenting it to her on bended knee. 

"..." It was surreal, seeing it before her. Luna gingerly, after hesitating, took her horn from the Earth mare's hand, turning it over as she examined where it had been cut from her head. No pony should see their own horn like this, normally ponies would see it and then would need to seal it away. Unicorn horn repair was extremely difficult, very few ever truly worked. The younger the Unicorn, the better the chance, but the older the Unicorn ...
But it wasn't impossible. It depended on the pony, it depended on the horn, it depended on the healer. Some Unicorns could use them as they did before the break, some could partially use them after the horn was put back together but the broken-off parts couldn't cast magic. These ponies, however, were determined to restore her, as her magic was important to the balance of the world. 

"I also fetched Princess Celestia's horn" Whisper Blue stated, producing the white horn from her cloak and handing it over to Luna for safekeeping, "If they become angry and wish to destroy the horns, however way they can, then I did not want hers to be taken"

"Unicorn horns are impossible to destroy. They can break, they can be shattered, they can be ground into dust for dark purposes, but they cannot be fully destroyed. Not in the same way. Even a powdered horn will come together and try to form what piece of the horn it once was" Luna examined Celestia's horn, longer and thinner than her own, "An Alicorn's horn is even stronger. It took a lot of force, a lot of brute strength, to separate our horns from our heads. To repair that ..."

"It's not impossible, my Princess" Crystal Clear, stepping forward, "May I see the horn, and where it should be?"

"..." Luna sat on a small footstool to allow the mare to examine her, holding up her horn. Bowing her head for a moment to show respect, the cream Unicorn took the horn in hand, and carefully examined the base through the glasses perched on the end of her muzzle.

"A clean cut ... no damage, they didn't seem to cauterise it when they cut it ..." She looked closely at the remains of the horn on Luna's head, the inch-long protrusion that marked the Princess as someone who unwillingly allowed her horn to be taken, "This must have hurt so much, my Princess ..."

"It did ..." Luna confirmed, looking down. Though the horn itself was mostly bone, or cartilage yet to harden in younger ponies, it still felt pain and cutting too close to the skull resulted in bleeding. Severing the Unicorn's magic caused mental agony too, sometimes worse than the physical. 

"But can it be repaired, Sister Crystal" Whisper Blue asked the obvious question, and Crystal Clear nodded with some caution.

"They were cruel in how they cut the horn, there's no doubt about that. But the cruelty has worked in our favour; they were too concerned with cutting to burn the ends or do something to stop them neatly fitting together. With the right magic ... our magic ... I think the chance of success is high"

Luna broke out in a relieved smile ...





Some of the ingredients needed were obscure and a little guesswork was required when translating from Old Ponish. They had referred to current books on nursing, of course, but sometimes older works also had little pieces of advice worth a note. Crystal Clear thought it wise to combine both, seeing how an Alicorn different from a Unicorn in terms of power. 

Whisper Blue stood before her table, filled with so many tomes that they threatened to tip over at any moment, many pages opened as a bowl of moonwater from the healing pool was brought over. Within the silver bowl, edged with designs of moons and stars, Whisper Blue carefully added the ingredients.

Black orchids from the most mysterious depths of Tartarus. Silver pearls from the freezing North Luna Ocean. Delicate Crystals from their namesake Empire. Fine golden sand from the hottest region of the Badlands. Warm scales of an ancient dragon that roamed the Dragon Lands centuries ago. A whispy piece of cloud from the factories of Cloudsdale. And, finally, an exceptionally rare silver phoenix feather, the light counterpart to their fiery counterparts, only seen once every hundred thousand moons to a pair of lucky parents. 

Carefully stirring the odd mix, Whisper Blue muttered words under her breath as Silver Song and Crystal Clear prepared their own ingredients. Silver Song pulled out a little primary feather close to his side, adding it to the shimmering, silvery liquid in the bowl, and Crystal Clear added a tiny chip of her own horn, one that would repair itself after a short while naturally. 
For her part, Whisper Blue cut a portion of her left hindhoof, a symbol of an Earth pony's connection to the land, and the source of their quiet, latent power. Adding this portion caused the mixture to thicken, becoming more akin to soup than water, and the Princess couldn't help but be enchanted by the swirls of metallic silver across the surface, how they rose and fall, curled around each other and blossomed into new shapes ...

"One more item" If the silver phoenix feather was difficult, then the next ingredient was even more taxing. Like the most exotic spice from the south, Whisper Blue picked up a thin vial with a dark grey powder inside, sprinkling it into the mix like she was, well, seasoning a soup. Which she essentially was.

"Meteorite?" Luna knew that substance well; her own crown was fashioned out of meteorite, at least partially. She always thought it gave her magic something extra, but that was likely wishful thinking on her part.

"Tears of the moon, it says in this book" Whisper Blue said whilst stirring the mixture more, "It does not elaborate further, but we can guess they mean meteorite. My Princess, may I have your horn?"

Luna was oddly reluctant to hand it over. Perhaps so long without it had made her possessive? Or did she not trust these ponies as much as she wanted to? No, the likely answer was that she simply didn't want her horn damaged further if this spell or potion somehow didn't work. At least she was not being asked to drink the mixture; it would likely make her exceptionally sick and she really didn't need that on top of her present state.
None the less, she did as she was asked. Whisper Blue placed the horn within the bowl, submerging it totally, and causing the mixture to suddenly start to swirl in a uniform direction clockwise. 

"..." Luna held her breath as all four ponies watched the potion ... Before the IlLUNAnati turned to their Princess.

"Princess Luna of Equestria" Whisper Blue addressed her with sudden ceremony, "Please take a seat and we will try the final portion of the spell"

"..." Luna looked at them, but decided it was worth a try. Anything to regain her horn. Her magic. Her domain over the moon. A chance to save Equestria. 

Sitting on the little footstool that she had sat upon to let Crystal Clear examine the remains of her horn, she was surprised to see Crystal Clear carrying the bowl as Whisper Blue and Silver Song followed, all three standing before her as Whisper Blue dipped her hands into the bowl. Bringing out the horn, coated with the potion, she pressed it against the stump on Luna's forehead as her opposite hand painted and coated the stump in the potion. Luna was almost amused, it felt like they were plastering the potion back on.

Much to her shock, she felt Whisper Blue take her hand away ... but the horn stayed affixed to the stump. She didn't dare cast, not when the ponies were watching so intently. She certainly didn't expect Whisper Blue to paint her forehead and cheeks with sigils she couldn't see nor understand. 

The bowl was placed at the Princess's feet, each pony placing their hands into the potion and painting a crescent moon onto their foreheads, standing in a circle around Luna at precise distances from each other. Holding their hands up, Silver Song's wings aloft, they started to chant something that Luna couldn't understand, nothing that was in any language she knew from past or present. Just as she opened her mouth to question this, an overwhemling feeling gripped her, one of light and of air, of suddenly having no pain, no weight, no fear. Her eyes glazed over, seeing nothing and everything at the same time, but most of her attention was directed to her horn. She could feel, she could feel the horn and the stump knitting together, becoming whole, becoming one. Fur and flesh, bone and magic, all became the same. Her Cutie Mark glowed bright, brighter than any sun, and the lashes obscuring it burned away. The degrading new symbol of Equestria, the symbol of her and Celestia's combined marks lashed together with chains, it became nothing more than mist and dissolved away, the flank that had been scarred by the brand filling and becoming clean and healed. It was almost as if it had never been there ...

Breathless, Luna stood as best she could, the IlLUNAnati standing around her with their arms now down, awaiting her response.

Luna touched her horn, touched where the stump had stopped, where she should have felt a seam from this repair. There was nothing, the groove that spiralled around her horn was perfect and complete. To test this, she looked to the books on the desk.
Move She directed her magic at the closed spellbook that teetered dangerously close to falling over. It moved, but it did more. Enveloped in her blue aura, she picked it up and placed it back on the shelf flawlessly.

"I ... " Tears pricked her eyes, "I don't believe it ..."
> Chapter 10: Wherefore Art Thou?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once, there were only two Princesses of Equestria. Then, two became three. One disappeared, another rose. Then three became four.

And now only one Princess was free. The others were trapped, imprisoned, slaves to collars that rendered them nothing more than property to either a caribou or a stallion. And one stallion owned two Princesses, in a mark of prestige to this new regime, but disgust and outage in any other. 

What had driven Shining Armour to take not only his bride, but his sister to bed?

It was not something Luna wanted to think about, as she buried her face in her hands and rubbed her aching forehead. She had her horn restored, she could use her magic again, but the healing was taking a toll on her and she had the most tremendous migraine as her mind and her horn reconnected once more. But then again, was it the healing, or was it the overwhelming thought of saving the world that was causing her temples to throb? 
"Where do I even begin ..."

"Perhaps some tea?" Crystal Clear offered an awkward smile, proffering the teacup and readying the pot with a few bags of Meadow Morning brewing inside. Luna paused, but nodded in agreement as the cup was placed in front of her and filled with the light blend, along with some sugar and cream. At least this drink, she knew, wouldn't be spiked with aphrodisiacs. The lesions in her stomach caused by the repeated doses were healing nicely, the stress of her situation lessened somewhat  in that she was allowed to sleep, bathe and eat on her own terms. It took her a second to remember she could now levitate the cup, her hand twitching in reflex in case she accidentally dropped it. 

"I need to get Celestia back" She decided to finally voice her worries, to her small but fiercely devoted audience, "I need to get her away from that beast. I need to try and bring her back round to the way she was ... and I need to try and reach Twilight and Cadance"

"Where IS Princess Twilight?" Silver Song voiced the question, though he was sure Luna had answered it before.
"She is in the Crystal Empire, along with Cadance. Both are owned by Shining Armour"
"... When you say 'owned' ..."
Luna merely looked at him. Horror dawned on his face.
"SURELY-"
"It doesn't matter they're siblings. It doesn't matter. When Celestia and I heard, we couldn't believe it. We refused to believe it. Twilight was a good pony, she was smart, she was talented, and she had a fierce understanding of right and wrong. Too fierce, sometimes, maybe. It is a shock to see someone you thought you knew turn to that, and for Celestia ... it broke her heart. She almost had to declare Twilight dead from her memory, it hurt her so much. She's not seen Twilight since; any letters that were about her, any news about her, the staff would give to me. It was so hard to believe, even when I saw pictures, even when I read her letters, even when I received her wing feathers ..."
"Why would Shining Armour do this?!"

"I don't KNOW" Luna ran her hands through her hair and brought them to rest on the sides of her neck, "He's not a pony that's ever expressed these feelings ... I mean, we would never expect to hear them, but he's never shown a side that wants to control or dominate. Why he would do such things to Cadance or Twilight ... The Caribou have done something terrible to him, it can't be just words. They were very interested in Cadance, they got their hooves on the Crystal Heart and corrupted it, but Shining Armour is, perhaps, the most corrupted stallion I've seen ... I've heard word that Cadance is pregnant, there is a painting of Shining Armour in uniform with a naked, very pregnant Cadance next to him, but I don't know how true that is ..."

That brought up a question, one that alarmed all three IlLUNAnati members at once.

"Where are the foals in this world?!"

"SAFE" The word came out as an exhaled snap, as much as she didn't mean it that way, "They're safe. Mothers who could see something terrible coming started to ship their children to members of the family in the countryside. Mass trains of foals, small and big, all heading away from the cities and towns. Some parents went with them, especially those without faraway relatives. Others stayed so they could fight the Caribou. The Apple family were a big help, their social connections via their family really aided the flight, we had trusted teachers and foalsitters and nurses take them all away and they are kept safe and guarded in secret locations. Seeing the foals being sent away alarmed the other creatures of Equestia; they ceased contact with us once we explained the Caribou were advancing. I haven't spoken to Queen Novo or Dragon Lord Ember in hundreds of moons. Probably for the best ..."

That, at least, was a relief. It was simply adult mares and stallions that needed to be rescued and reformed. It was such a big task ... the obvious answer for the ilLUNAnati was to start with Princess Luna, but where do they go from there? 
"I can't go to the Crystal Empire. Not right now. I can't even fly. But I can reach Cadance and Twilight another way. Through their dreams ..."

-

Now that Luna had regained her horn and her magic, she should have been able to dreamwalk again. She daren't raise the moon and let the Caribou know so readily that she could use her magic, and she knew it was a risk trying to enter a red Princesses dream to communicate with her, but it was surely worth a try. After a warm bath, a glass of honeyed milk and filling her little enclave with fresh lavender, Princess Luna closed her eyes, and found her way in the world of dreams ...

"Brother dear, why can't I come in bed tonight?" Twilight whined, looking up at Shining Armour with pitiful eyes as she rested on her knees, hoping to change his mind as Cadance finished preparing herself for her husband's pleasure.
"Because it's Candy's time, tonight" Shining Armour smirked, "I can't just take my fill of you all the time, Twiley, I need to make my wife perform. You understand, right?" 
"I guess ..." She looked down, pouting with her ears low. Shining Armour chuckled at this filly-ish display of disappointment.
"Come on now, Twiley. I'll take you out by the Crystal Cock tomorrow, put on a show for the people. You'd like that, right?"
"You mean it?!" Her head snapped up, eyes sparkling as he ran a thumb over her lower lip.
"Only if you're good. Off to bed now. I've got ... other things to do"
"Yes, Sir!" She bounded off to her 'bed', nothing more than a repurposed and enlarged dog bed, proudly adorned with her name and filled with an assortment of books and silk pillows. You could put a red collar on the mare, but you couldn't fuck the bookworm out of her, apparently. Curling up in the confined space, she smiled as she listened to her sister-in-law service her brother, hoping to dream that was her ...

Her dreams were not that twisted. At first, it was mere memories of the past couple of days being filtered into her subconscious, followed by older memories of a time before the Caribou. Before she moved from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire to serve her Master. When she would reshelve the Golden Oak library, finding forgotten comics that Spike had secreted away to be read later then forgotten about ...
"Honestly, Spike, don't dragons have just one big hoard?"  She shook her head with a smile, pulling out a copy of ZAPP! and quickly flicking through the pages. Another arc about fighting the SuperCell Sisters, the Tornado Trio and the Waterspout Witch as a supervillain team-up, something Twilight was not interested in but had heard Spike talk about when ranting about fighting more than one tornadic-themed villain. 

A light laugh in the background caused Twilight to drop the comic. She didn't even need to turn to know who it was; Princess Celestia was standing in her library. Tall, regal, adorned in a long white dress with a golden sun brooch on her hip, she smiled down at Twilight as a massive smile bloomed on Twilight's face in return.
"Princess Celestia!" She ran forward to hug her mentor, burying her cheek in the silk of her dress as she only reached the other pony's shoulder, "What brings you here?!"
"I don't need an excuse to see my favourite student, do I?" Celestia asked with a light air as Twilight let go of her.
"Well, I mean, no ... Do you want a friendship report in-person? Or I could give you a tour of the library?" She gestured around at the half-shelved space, "I mean, it's in the middle of sorting, but I have some new, exciting books that just arrived from Manehattan, and I-"
"Twilight" The Princess of Friendship had been distracted by pointing to the shelves, and when she turned her head around again, she was startled to see Princess Luna standing in place of Princess Celestia. A dark blue satin dress instead of a white silk one, and a silver moon brooch on the opposite hip to her sister. Twilight's eyes darted left and right as she tried to deduce what was going on.
"P-Princess Luna? W-What brings you here?" She put on a nervous smile, trying not to insult the midnight ruler, but unable to conceal her unease at the sudden change, even within a dream.
"What brings you back here?" Luna looked around the library, "I thought you were happy where you were"
"Where ... I was?" Twilight blinked, "In Canterlot?"
"In the Crystal Empire"
".... In-" She almost blurted out she had never heard of it, but the name suddenly came to her, and her eyes went wide, "I'm in the Crystal Empire?! Is something wrong?"
Luna lowered her gaze to her, her eyes almost piercing. Twilight visibly shrunk where she stood under the Princesses' gaze. 
"Twilight, you're in the Crystal Empire, with Cadance and Shining Armour. You don't remember?"
"No ..." But her tone betrayed that she did. She DID remember. But maybe she didn't want to ...

This was interesting to Luna. Twilight Sparkle was on the cover of this month's Radiantly Red. She was an eager sex slave, competing with her sister-in-law for her brother's attention. She was wing-bound and hornless, nothing more than a toy ... but here, she was a librarian. Just a librarian. Her horn was intact, but Luna noted it was the same length as a regular Unicorn horn and not lengthened by her ascension. She also noted that Twilight's wings were either folded away behind her back or simply not there, depending on the moment, as though her mind couldn't decide if she wanted to marry the idea she was an Alicorn with her position as librarian. 

"Twilight, listen to me" Luna reached out and tilted Twilight's chin up to face her, "You are Twilight Sparkle. The Princess of Friendship. Wielder of the Element of Magic. You remember, don't you? You lived in Ponyville, you were a student of Celestia"
"Yes ..." But her voice was weak, and tears were building up in her eyes, unable to cope with what the Princess was telling her. Even if it was just something so simple as her name, title and duties. Luna's expression softened.
"You haven't forgotten any of that ... but you're not allowed to show it. You're frightened"
"I'm not" Twilight protested, but her protests were as a weak as a day-old bird.
"It's a scary world, I know. But here, in dreams, you are free. Explore your dreams, Twilight. Let them take you back ..."

She let go of Twilight's chin, and seemingly dissolved into nothingness, leaving Twilight stunned and shaken as her dreamworld rattled on it's foundations.

In the waking world, Twilight Sparkle's hind hoof kicked a little, and a tear rolled down her cheek ...
> Chapter 11: Tears of the Sun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The particularly snarky or scientific members of the astrology club would point out that the moon does not cast its own light. It merely reflected the light of the moon, the amount of light being reflected changing depending on how much the moon was being shadowed by the very planet it danced around in front of the audience of the sun. While this may be true, in a world of magic and mysticism, it was still also true that the light of the moon had its own special properties.

And few ponies understood that more than Luna, the chosen pony with the power over one of the twin celestial bodies that ruled the day and night of the world. 

This was so risky. She half-expected her guardians to ask her if she was sure, to talk her out of it ... indeed, as they stood on the silvery grass on a meadow outside Canterlot, the wind gently stirring the cloaks of the IlLUNAnati as they silently watched their princess, Luna awaited some hesitation or reluctance. 
"... Are you not going to ask me if I am sure?" She looked over her shoulder at them. All three were stoic, their faces mostly hidden in shadow apart from their muzzles. None of them were smiling, almost ghoulish in their silence, until Whisper Blue spoke.
"What you decide is our will, my Princess" She stated as sure as saying the ocean was blue or the clouds were white. Luna half-smiled at this ... She had yes-ponies, all Royalty did, but she and Celestia were careful to  make sure they had assistants who would question their choices if the need arose. Complete subservience was not good for any ruler, after all. Quite a lot of tyrants learned this one way or the other.

Luna turned back, looking up at the night sky as the Unicorns had set the sun. She could feel them pulling up the moon, she could feel the pull and strain as they had to work together as one. She and Celestia made it look so easy .... but they had a connection no-one else could understand with their respective heavenly object. Celestia would have been clumsy with the moon at first, when she raised it alone, and Luna had no doubt she would feel the same way about the sun. 

Step aside, my subjects. Let a Master show thee how it is done!

The seams of her horn shone with a silvery light, closing her eyes as she called to the moon. It felt so affirming, so her to be able to do her eternal duty. With grace, she rose the moon over the horizon, the beautiful rays of lunar light shining down on all the members of the group. Without consciously willing it, Luna started to levitate off her hooves, her still-weak wings open but still behind her as her magic surged through her, re-enforced by energy of the moon. It was a full moon, when the magic was at its most potent, and the cloaks of the IlLUNAnati started to move and glitter much like Luna's own mane as it charged with the ability to become invisible in the daylight hours. All three ponies watched Luna with held breath, in awe of watching the moon rising at such a close quarters and in the personal company of their Princess. 

Her eyes were closed, her arms open as she welcomed the moon high in the sky. Raising a full moon was the highlight of the month for her, and she felt refreshed in her battered body and soul in a way that no bath nor tender care could really give her. 
I can feel your power ... Luna embraced the rush of spiritual energy. She wanted to raise the full moon personally, like this, like the days of old before castles and titles. Back when she and Celestia realised their duty to the sun and moon, before the Winter Moon and Summer Sun festivals, the morning and evening changes. When it was just two sisters doing what their Cutie Marks represented ...

There was another reason she wanted to raise the full moon in person and risk discovery. The full moon made her more powerful, and it would help when she entered the dream of the most important pony for her to wash away the stain of red submission ...





"Your sister is still missing. And now the moon is up, the Unicorns say someone else did it. Care to explain?"
"I don't know, Master" Celestia sat on her heels, her hands on her lap and her head bowed in submission, but her ears betrayed her fear of punishment and her knuckles were tense on her thighs. She waited for a blow, and was somewhat surprised when it didn't arrive.
"If you weren't such a good pet, I'd suspect you had something to do with this. No-one in this land does anything without my say-so. Understand? No-one. Especially not a pampered mare thinking above her place"
"Yes, Master" She agreed with a small nod. 
"Still. I'm in no mood for you tonight. You will not get supper, nor a bath. I will reconsider your place after I find your cunt sister"
"Of course, Master" She said nothing about the disgusting words used to describe Luna. Her sweet little sister ... why wouldn't she take the Red and make it so much easier for herself? Just give in to pleasure and no worries? Just ...
She had no time to finish that thought, the silver loop on her red collar sharply pulled her off her knees and threw her sideways half-in the dog bed that served as her cot. Master was angry, but merciful, he did not hit her and he was gentle despite his foul mood. She awaited further instruction, but the caribou turned sharply on his hooves and stormed out, slamming the door to the Royal bedchamber hard enough to cause Celestia to wince, curling up in the bed properly and trying to sleep ...

The effect of aphrodisiacs and other drugs could be unpredictable when it came to pony dreams. Some ponies found their dreams interrupted or nonsensical with the chemical interruption to their mind's normal housekeeping, while others had no dreams at all but a good few were unaffected. Celestia was one of those ponies; she still dreamed, but rarely remembered the dreams when she woke up.
This dream seemed quite nice. She was in an unknown building, something like a town hall or other official office, as she noted the Royal flag on the walls and a couple of smart portraits of various ponies with names and titles underneath. The air smelled of a curious mix of dust, cinnamon and lemon drops. interested, she tried to open doors along the corridor, only to find they did not have doorknobs or pushbars. Confused, she continued along the corridor, finding herself entering what looked like a courtyard ... one with banquet tables stacked high with cakes and sweets. Pastries, profiteroles, tarts, tortes, cheesecakes, pies, crêpes, flans ... it was a venerable patisserie of delicacies, and Celestia squeaked with delight at so many delicious treats on display. She didn't see any ponies around, and was hesitant to try any without guidance as to what the occasion was or who was in charge of serving. 

Perhaps just one little éclair ... Celestia thought to herself, her mouth watering as she approached a rather cute little log cabin made of the pastries. Delicately, she took one from the top, examining the thick layer of chocolate and fresh cream puffed out at the sides, and took a bite. A rush of sugar and joy filled her as she finally tasted a sweet after so, so long ...
"It's been a while since you've had a cake" A voice noted. Celestia almost dropped her treat on the sudden voice, acting like a filly who had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She turned sharply, putting the bitten éclair back on the display without thinking as she went to apologise to the poor pony who had to tell the Princess she was eating what might have been a display piece ...
Instead, she was confronted with the sight of her sister. Celestia stared, her mouth slightly open, a small piece of chocolate still on her chin as Luna approached. 
"Been a while since you had your horn. Or clothes" Luna looked her up and down, noting that Celestia had on her typical white silk dress while she had on her traditional dark blue satin one. Both had their full horns, but their wings differed; Luna's wings were true to their real-world state, being quite bare and covered with fluffy newly-grown underfeathers, whereas Celestia had her full wings out and on display, instead of being imprisoned in ghastly red covers as they were in the waking world. 
"Luna, what are you doing here?!" Celestia gasped, unsure if this was a trick, "Master is looking for you!"
"... Who?" Luna raised a brow at her sister, who only seemed more aghast at Luna's response.
"Master! You've been gone for a while, Master is looking for you?"
"Is he?" Luna tilted her head, "That's odd. For someone so concerned about that brute, you don't look like you are under his spell here"
"... What do you mean" Celestia furrowed her brow. Luna would laugh if this was not a serious matter. At least with Twilight's dream, she had regressed to her preferred time period, and it was interesting to watch her memories of her who she was wobble between Alicorn and Unicorn as he mind and body had a discussion over which it preferred to represent. With Celestia, her body seemed to firmly exist in the past, but her mind was more in the present.
"So, you still think about him in here. But you don't have a collar, wing caps, you're not nude and you have your horns and wings. I wonder why"
"Our place is with Master" Celestia stated firmly, her chin held up, "You won't trick me, little sister. I know this is all an illusion. You're using dreams to trick me"
"Your dream was your own before I came in" Luna pointed out, "The cakes? The building? This courtyard? None of that is me. I'm a guest, this is your house. Your mind built it. I just walked in a side door. I wanted to talk to you, because I know Celestia is still in there. MY Celestia. The big sister who wouldn't put up with this caribou nonsense"
"It's not nonsense!" Celestia snapped, causing Luna to raise her brow further, "It's our place. Luna, didn't you just tire of all the dangers and the crisis' all the time? Didn't you long for time away? For pleasure? To just let someone else take care of things?"
"No" Luna stated firmly, "And neither did you. I know you Celestia. You took on the burden of TWO Princesses when you sent me away. If you wanted to be free, you wouldn't have done that. I know you're grooming Twilight for power, but you know she won't be the same as us. It was the same with Princess Amore, with Cadance. No-one is like us. We took on the stewardship of the world, and no-one was a bigger stickler for duty than you. You tried to talk me down out of Nightmare Moon by saying lowering the moon was Luna's duty. Simply giving up is not you"
"This is trickery, Master warned me" Celestia narrowed her eyes, "He said you might try to come into dreams and get to me. I won't let you turn me away from Master. I am a good girl, and I do as Master commands".

Oh, by Starswirl's withered ballsack, this was getting annoying. Luna grabbed Celestia's hand, and started to pull her away.
"Let go of me!" Celestia tried to pull back, but was shocked at Luna's strength. In the real world, she was taller than Luna and had a slight advantage in terms of size. Here, it was almost like she was trying to pull against an elephant as Luna brought her out of the courtyard and through a gate that lead to outside the entire building itself. Soon, they were standing in a wildflower meadow, one that went on until the horizon, the world bathed in a golden light from the high, lazy summer sun. Crickets chirped around them, butterflies dancing between poppies and bluebells, and the slight cooling breeze brushed across the tall grass.
"... What are we doing here" Celestia had to ask as Luna let go of her wrist, watching her sister's reaction.
"You don't remember this place?"
"... Remember? It looks like every other wild meadow in Equestria"
"Does it?"
"Luna, please, just tell me why we're here"
"You're Celestia. You're the Princess of the Sun. The Daylight Ruler of Equestia"
"Master is-"
"Don't interrupt me" Luna raised a finger at her, much to Celestia's anger.
"Don't you dare take that tone with me!"
"That's more like it. Now, do this" Luna stretched open her arms, opening them horizontally before raising them up slowly, bringing herself up on hoofpoint as she did so. Her wings spread out with the action, distracting Celestia slightly at their poor condition as she brought her wings even tighter against her back.
"What are you doing"
"Do what I just did"
"Luna, I'm not in the mood for yoga"
"Do I look like I'm in the mood for yoga?" Luna retorted drily. While she'd prefer not to snap at Celestia at all, it seemed that provoking her temper was the only way to see some semblance of Celestia's old personality under the meek shell that encased her in a red collar, "Just do it. Turn, face the sun, and salute it"
"... " Celestia looked up at the sun. She was one of the very few ponies who could do this and not be immediately blinded; after all, a pony who raised the sun but could not look at it was going to be rather inaccurate with their gift. Though the sun was merely in a dream, Luna drew on Celestia's memories of the many suns she had raised, the moonlight enhancing her power at drawing out potent feelings and thoughts, and deep memories ...

Slowly, Celestia did as she was shown. She opened her arms at the sun, closing her eyes on reflex and drawing in the warm summer air as she raised herself on golden hoofpoint, drinking in the radiant heat of the sun and feeling the light enter her soul. It was a dream. It was a dream ... but it felt so real ...
"You haven't welcomed the sun in many cycles" Luna's voice was soft as Celestia performed the stance she would normally do to raise the sun in the morning, "You're not allowed to. They took your horn, but they can't take your connection from the sun. No-one can. It's who you are. The sun misses you, YOU miss the sun. We're shut away, we cannot see even the nature we are tied to"
"I ... I miss the sun ..." Celestia admitted, her voice cracking as the two parts of her fought over wither or not to voice this. She wouldn't dare say this in the real world. She couldn't ...
"The longest day of the sun is coming soon. Will you see it? Will you see the sun in the sky for a long time? It used to be your favourite day, you always glowed with the light"
"I ..."
"You are the Princess of the Sun. You are entitled to see it. It's not something anyone can take away. No-one. No Masters, no-one in the world ..."

Celestia's dream dissolved in darkness, the warmth of her dreamland sun faded away, and she was left in a cold void with her real-life form whimpering quietly in her disturbing slumber ...